Rajasthan govt's move to save camel backfires

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, says Newton’s third law of motion. But the Rajasthan Government would not have anticipated this while proposing camel as the state animal recently.

The Rajasthan Government claims that it wanted to arrest the declining population of camel, also called “ship of the desert”.

The government decided to go a step ahead and is in the process of enacting a law-- Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of slaughter and regulation of temporary migration or exports of camel) Bill 2014--to prevent slaughter, illegal trade and transportation of animal. It also plans to include camel milk in its food security programme.

This action appears to have backfired and there is a strong reaction and now the government is on the backfoot.

The proposal has led to massive resentment and rural people are opposing it as the camel is part of their daily life.

They fear, to some extent it is true also, that the law will prevent them from rearing camel.  

Fearing a severe backlash, the government appears to be in a damage-control mode as it clarified that the proposed law will not restrict the rearing and using of animal for routine activities.

Trading of animals in camel fairs will not be an offe­nce.

That seems to have not cut much ice with those up in arms over the proposed law. They contend that the national or the state animal cannot be reared under the law.

If the government sticks to its words, camel would become the first state animal reared by the people for personal use.

“The new bill to protect camel by declaring it the state animal is very impra­ctical. It has put a big question on livelihood of thousands of families, for whom rearing of camel is the main occupation.

We will definitely challenge the decision of the government in Rajasthan High Court,” said Himmat Singh Gujar, a  Gujar community leader.

He claimed that if the law is enacted, the use of camel for personal and routine activities will be an offence.

In such a situation they can be easily prosecuted. Camel owners suspect that the law will destroy their livelihood and make a big adverse impact on the rural economy.

“Over 10,000 camel-cart owners may not be able to earn two square meals a day. Be it transportation, selling milk or using the animal in any activity will be treated as atrocity,” said Umed Singh Raibari, a Raibari community leader. The community is largely into rearing of camels in the state.

“Migration can't be stopped as food for camels is not available in Rajasthan round the year. Besides, the animal is taken to other states for mating,” said Himmat Singh.

If the government bans trading and migration, population of camel will decline at a faster rate, he argued. 

Animal lovers are not clear at this moment as to whether the Act will impact the famous fairs in Pushkar, Jaisalmer and Bikaner, which are a big tourist attraction.

Border Security Force personnel in Rajasthan use camels extensively for guarding the borders.

All the speculation and confusion will only be cleared once government tables the bill in the state Assembly.

But the government insists that the new law is intended to check the dwindling camel population in the state and it will ban transportation of the animal to other states.

It does not want to hurt people and stop the use of animal for traditional activities.

“The farmers can continue to use camels for tilling. There is no objection to using camels for transporting goods. We only want to stop the rampant killing of the animal. People can continue to earn their livelihood by rearing camel,” said Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini. 

He said that camel owners can take their animals out of the state after getting a permit from the local administration.

“No one will stop them once they show the permit. Under the new law there is no ban on sale of camels but the camel owners will have to declare their intentions while selling the animal.

There is no confusion among the camel owners.

A section of camel mafia, is spreading this rumour. The state government’s move will put an end to the illegal business.

Before it becomes a law, it will be discussed in the Assembly. If required, changes can be made,” said Saini. 

According to the Livestock Census data, there were 668,000 camels in 1997 in Rajasthan and the number has dropped to about 2.5 lakh now.
Experts feel that merely declaring the camel as the state animal will not serve any purpose. A number of other steps can be taken to address the issue.

The government should ensure quality fodder and adopt modern breeding methods to improve birth rate. The two measures will also stop problems like slaughtering and illegal migration.

“There are no grazing fields and open land in the state. Because of this, people sell animals or send them to other states. The end result is illegal slaughtering of the animal,” said a senior scientist in Bikaner research institute, who did not want to be named.

Camels are sold at cheap rates in cattle fairs as owners cannot feed them properly. Mafias purchase them and sell to slaughter houses for a higher price, he added.

Camel, which has a lifespan of around 20 years, starts breeding at 3-5 years. It conceives once in two and a half years and that was one of the reasons for reduction of number of animals.

“The great Indian bustard was declared as state bird long back, but today hardly 45-50 birds are left in Rajasthan. So merely declaring as the state animal or the state bird does not make any difference.

Hope camel will not meet the same fate,” the scientist added.